Phonological use of the larynx: a tutorial

Overview & Synopsis

This paper concerns the role of the larynx in speech communication. All the world's languages use characteristic configuration of the larynx, at the segmental, lexical, and supralexical levels. Concerning the segmental level, we first present a) the use of different phonation types to distinguish between consonants and vowels in the languages of the world, b) the use of the larynx as the place of articulation for the glottal consonants, and c) laryngeal maneuvers for the production of ejective and implosive consonants. Concerning the lexical level, we then discuss the use of specific patterns of the fundamental frequency movements at the lexical level to contrast between words in tonal languages and in languages with melodic stress. Third, the involvement of the larynx to transmit linguistic and paralinguistic information at the sentence level is treated in the last part.